Decathlon lightweight tents

[hoppy58]

Has anyone any experience of their tents? ...the Quickhiker 2 person (green dome - MSR(ish) copy) looks amazing value at £79.00 - I like the fact that it's not horrendously heavy at 2.7 kg, has alloy poles, lots of storage pockets, 2 porches and it can also be used as outer only. Also the Quickhiker ultralight 2 looks a great buy at £120 - even has a DAC pole and again appears to be really well thought out.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/quick-hiker ... 86006.html

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/quickhiker- ... 45650.html

[mercalia]

some people here would say it is it heavy - my tarp tent just weighs 1.2kg

[Aushiker]

some people here would say it is it heavy - my tarp tent just weighs 1.2kg

+1 I would, in fact I would say it was horredosuly heavy at 2.7 kg. Price is great but for me price does not make my ride day after day a better experience if I am hauling a "ton" of weight.

[hoppy58]

I take your point, although some would say that the extra space and comfort at the end of the day is a worthwhile price to pay over weight. The quickhiker ultralight is quite a bit lighter than the quickhiker, at 1.9kg

[Aushiker]

I take your point, although some would say that the extra space and comfort at the end of the day is a worthwhile price to pay over weight. The quickhiker ultralight is quite a bit lighter than the quickhiker, at 1.9kg

I don't disagree and I also value space which is why I sold my Tarptent Bowfin 1 [1.06 kg] and replaced it with a Tarptent Double Rainbow[1.17 kg] and my tents before that where a Zpacks Duplex [~ 800 grams] and a Tarptent Scarp 1 [1.47 kg] which is a palace despite being a single person tent.

Not a great image but one night on my Chasing the Dirt Tour I had all six of my panniers in the Scarp 1 and its vestibule [hoon alert that night]. I slept comfortably BTW.



and it in action on one of nights early in the ride.

[pete75]

Has anyone any experience of their tents? ...the Quickhiker 2 person (green dome - MSR(ish) copy) looks amazing value at £79.00 - I like the fact that it's not horrendously heavy at 2.7 kg, has alloy poles, lots of storage pockets, 2 porches and it can also be used as outer only. Also the Quickhiker ultralight 2 looks a great buy at £120 - even has a DAC pole and again appears to be really well thought out.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/quick-hiker ... 86006.html

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/quickhiker- ... 45650.html

The second is a very good tent. Not too bad for two biggish blokes not least because each of you has your own door. Excellent space for one person. Lightweight and fairly strong and robust. Have used for about 10 separate nights solo camping, as a two person for a 6 day double coast to coast and then given to my son who last used it on a 3 month tour of scandinavia camping every night. None of us have had any problems at all. Decathlon tents pack compactly due to fairly short pole sections so fit easily into a pannier. You're right about the tent being a great buy.

Used a previous series ultralight 3 for around 10 years used for many nights without any without problems and with no noticeable damage or deterioration. On on a very windy campsite stood the night without problems even though the Hilleberg tunnel pitched next to me had a pole break.

[Gattonero]

Has anyone any experience of their tents? ...the Quickhiker 2 person (green dome - MSR(ish) copy) looks amazing value at £79.00 - I like the fact that it's not horrendously heavy at 2.7 kg, has alloy poles, lots of storage pockets, 2 porches and it can also be used as outer only. Also the Quickhiker ultralight 2 looks a great buy at £120 - even has a DAC pole and again appears to be really well thought out.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/quick-hiker ... 86006.html

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/quickhiker- ... 45650.html

The second one looks ok, but as per all the "cheap" tents the fabric is a gamble there: is likely to be ok but maybe not the most durable, even is they are using 40 & 75D fabrics. Being PU coated there may be some degradation after some years? Still, it would have done a good job in the meantime.

[Gattonero]

I take your point, although some would say that the extra space and comfort at the end of the day is a worthwhile price to pay over weight. The quickhiker ultralight is quite a bit lighter than the quickhiker, at 1.9kg

I don't disagree and I also value space which is why I sold my Tarptent Bowfin 1 [1.06 kg] and replaced it with a Tarptent Double Rainbow[1.17 kg] and my tents before that where a Zpacks Duplex [~ 800 grams] and a Tarptent Scarp 1 [1.47 kg] which is a palace despite being a single person tent....

May I ask how did you find the Duplex for setup and general use, and how are you doing with the Double Rainbow?
I quite like Henry Shire's designs, they are very clever.

[Sweep]

Sorry, i don't think that first decathlon tent is too heavy at all.

Not for taking on a bike.

It looks quite interesting, kind of similar to the robens lodge 2 in a way though i haven't compared the porch sizes and i am unclear from the reviews about whether it is free standing or not.

In short i think it worthy of consideration, especially for a newcomer wanting a one person tent.

[hoppy58]

i am unclear from the reviews about whether it is free standing or not.

It states in the blurb that it's "free-standing" and can be erected as outer only or inner only - quite handy allowing it to be used like a tarp or inner only in hot weather..

Thanks for all the comments...so it looks to me as if it's a very good tent and great value for the price..I suppose Decathlon can do it for this price as they are buying direct from the factory and missing out the wholesaler/distributor.

[Aushiker]

May I ask how did you find the Duplex for setup and general use, and how are you doing with the Double Rainbow?
I quite like Henry Shire's designs, they are very clever.

You may indeed

Setting up and pulling down the Duplex wasn't a difficult or complicated task, even at the end of a hard day's riding. What encouraged me to move it on despite its weight was

(a) its packed size and packed shaped. It didn't really work well with my bikepacking setup;
(b) and I am getting old or rather more appreciative of home comforts and hence found the Duplex a bit to minimalist for me. That is not a criticism of the design, but rather a reflection of my preference for a few more features, e.g., zips etc.

I haven't used the Double Rainbow in anger yet, will put it to use for the first time on Tuesday next week and then over six more nights, mostly camping on beaches or near the coast so expect a fair bit of wind and maybe some rain (early summer for us). Given my backyard pitch and my experience with the Scarp 1 I think I will be quite happy. It is just that more refined than the Duplex whilst keeping the weight and the packability within reasonable limits for me.

[pjclinch]

The second one looks ok, but as per all the "cheap" tents the fabric is a gamble there: is likely to be ok but maybe not the most durable, even is they are using 40 & 75D fabrics. Being PU coated there may be some degradation after some years? Still, it would have done a good job in the meantime.

A gamble up to a point. No obvious reason it shouldn't last for at least a few years unless very heavily used, and at that price we're in the realm of not much of a gamble, or no more of one than paying much more and finding you don't really get the use out of it.

I'm not a fan of PU coats, but I'm a tent snob and there's no shortage of tents that have done very good service that have them. Getting hung up on fabric denier count at this level really isn't worth the bother.

Decathlon are very good at giving you a very solid product for not much money. They won't be first choice for clothes/bikes/tents on serious expeditions, but that doesn't mean they're not capable, and you can use it to inform your subsequent Dream Purchase.

Pete.

[pjclinch]

It looks quite interesting, kind of similar to the robens lodge 2 in a way though i haven't compared the porch sizes and i am unclear from the reviews about whether it is free standing or not.

Looking at the pics I'd say it will stand up by itself, but if you don't peg out the porches they'll hang there like curtains.

Pete.

[Sweep]

It looks quite interesting, kind of similar to the robens lodge 2 in a way though i haven't compared the porch sizes and i am unclear from the reviews about whether it is free standing or not.

Looking at the pics I'd say it will stand up by itself, but if you don't peg out the porches they'll hang there like curtains.

Pete.

Yes, fair point. The lodge 2 really needs the sticky-out (sticking out from the classic dome) porch flaps pegged.

In truth i'm happy with a self supporting tent that doesn't need guy lines, though i did once camp fully self supported on a cinder tennis court/football pitch.

[crazydave789]

I don't consider the weight that bad for it and decathlon make good durable cheap kit.

if you struggle with an extra kilo of weight then you need to fitten up a bit.

if it works for how you want it then that's worth more in weight penalties than something that does the job as far as box ticking goes, I can save loads of weight if I sleep in a plastic emergency bag but it doesn't make the experience enjoyable.

personally I found tarp tents pretty miserable and that's coming from someone who used to live in the dirt for a living doing close target recce.